The Oz Series

Chapter 59

Part of the Ozma of Oz: The Land of Ev and the Nome King arc.

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What happens

As they draw near the mountain that blocks their path and marks the furthermost edge of the Kingdom of Ev, the way grows dark and gloomy because the high peaks shut out the sunshine, and it is very silent with no birds or squirrels, only bare rocks. Ozma and Dorothy are a little awed by the silence, and all are quiet and grave except the Sawhorse, which hums a queer song about a wooden horse in a woodland as it trots along with the Scarecrow on its back. No one pays attention because they are now close to the Nome King's dominions and his underground palace. Suddenly they hear a shout of jeering laughter and stop short; they would have had to stop anyway, for the huge mountain bars further progress and the path ends at a wall of rock.

Ozma asks who was laughing, but there is no reply, only strange forms flitting across the face of the rock. These creatures are the color of rocks with shapes as rough and rugged as if broken from the mountainside; they cling to the steep cliff facing the friends like flies on a window-pane, gliding up, down, and this way and that with confusing irregularity, never still. Tiktok tells Dorothy not to mind them, for they are only the Nomes, rock fairies who serve the Nome King and will do no harm, and he instructs that they must call for the King because without him they can never find the palace entrance. When Dorothy tells Ozma to call, the Nomes laugh again so weirdly that the twenty-six officers command the private to "right-about-face" and all start to run. The Tin Woodman pursues his army, cries "halt!", and asks where they are going; a general, trembling, claims he forgot the brush for his whiskers and they are going back for it. The Tin Woodman replies that is impossible because the giant with the hammer would kill them; the general, having forgotten the giant, turns pale. The Tin Woodman rebukes them for forgetting so many things and hopes they will not forget they are brave men, at which the officers indignantly slap their gold-embroidered chests and cry "Never!" The private meekly says he obeys his officers, running when told to run and fighting when told to fight. The Tin Woodman threatens that if they run away again he will have Ozma reduce all twenty-six officers to privates and make the private their general, and this terrible threat returns them to Ozma at once.

Ozma cries out demanding that the Nome King appear, but there is no reply except mocking laughter from the Nomes. Tiktok warns she must not command the Nome King since she does not rule him as she does her own people. Ozma calls again, requesting the King to appear, but again only laughter answers. Tiktok advises trying entreaty, since the King may listen to pleading if he will not come at her request. Ozma proudly asks whether she should humble herself to plead with a creature of an underground kingdom, and everyone shouts "No!" The Scarecrow adds that they will dig the King out like a fox if he will not come, but their sweet ruler must maintain her dignity. Dorothy volunteers, saying she is only a little girl from Kansas with dignity to spare, and steps forward to plead, politely asking "PLEASE Mr. Nome King, come here and see us." The Nomes start to laugh again, but a low growl comes from the mountain, and in a flash all the Nomes vanish and fall silent.

A door in the rock opens and a voice cries "Enter!" The Tin Woodman worries it is a trick, but Ozma replies they came to rescue the Queen of Ev and her ten children and must run risks. Tiktok assures them the Nome King is honest and good-natured and can be trusted to do right. Ozma leads the way hand in hand with Dorothy through the arched rock doorway into a long passage lit by jewels set in the walls with lamps behind them. With no escort, the whole party presses through until they reach a round, domed cavern, grandly furnished. In its center is a throne carved from a solid boulder, rude and rugged but glittering with rubies, diamonds, and emeralds on every surface, upon which sits the Nome King.

This monarch of the Underground World is a little fat man clothed in gray-brown garments the exact color of his rock throne, with bushy hair, flowing beard, and face all colored like the rocks. He wears no crown, his only ornament a broad, jewel-studded belt encircling his fat little body; his kindly, good-humored features and merry eyes turn upon his visitors. Dorothy whispers that he looks just like Santa Claus, only a different color, and the King, overhearing, laughs aloud and quotes the verse about a red face and round little belly that shook like a bowl full of jelly, visibly shaking like jelly himself. Relieved to find him jolly, Ozma and Dorothy are seated on cushioned stools that appear at his wave. The King picks up a pipe, takes a glowing red coal from his pocket, places it in the bowl, and puffs clouds of smoke in rings, looking more like Santa Claus than ever, and invites them to tell why they have come.

Ozma states she is ruler of the Land of Oz and asks the King to release the good Queen of Ev and her ten children whom he has enchanted and holds prisoner. The King corrects her: they are not prisoners but his slaves, purchased from the King of Ev. Ozma says that was wrong, but the King answers that according to the laws of Ev the king can do no wrong, so Evoldo had a perfect right to sell his family in exchange for a long life. Dorothy accuses him of cheating, since Evoldo did not get a long life but drowned himself. The King replies that was not his fault; he gave the long life, but Evoldo destroyed it, illustrating with an analogy of giving a pretty doll in exchange for a lock of hair: if the recipient smashes the doll, one cannot say the doll was not given, nor demand the lock of hair back. So he will not give up the Queen and children, who belong to him. When Ozma says he treats them cruelly by making them slaves, the King claims cruelty is a thing he cannot abide, so because slaves must work hard and the delicate Queen and children could not, he transformed them all into ornaments and bric-a-brac to decorate his rooms, sparing them labor, which he considers great kindness. Ozma calls this a dreadful fate and notes Ev needs its royal family to govern; she offers to give ten ornaments to replace each one the King loses if he liberates and restores them. The King asks what if he refuses, and Ozma firmly declares she is there with her friends and army to conquer his kingdom.

The Nome King laughs until he chokes, coughs, and his face turns from grayish-brown to bright red, then wipes his eyes with a rock-colored handkerchief. He tells Ozma she has little idea of the task's extent and leads her by the hand to a little side door opening onto a balcony overlooking the Underground World. A vast cave extends for miles, filled with glowing furnaces and forges where Nomes hammer precious metals and polish jewels, its walls lined with thousands of silver and gold doors built into the rock, extending in rows far into the distance. The King utters a shrill whistle, and at once all the doors fly open and solid ranks of Nome soldiers march out in such numbers that they fill the cavern and force the workmen to abandon their tasks. Though squat and fat, the rock-colored Nomes are clad in glittering polished steel armor inlaid with gems, each wearing a brilliant electric light on his brow and bearing sharp spears, swords, and bronze battle-axes, standing in perfectly trained straight ranks. The King declares this is but a small part of his army and that no ruler on Earth has ever dared or ever will dare to fight him. He whistles again, the army files back through the doorways and disappears, and the workmen resume their labors.

Sad and discouraged, Ozma turns to her friends, telling the Tin Woodman it would be foolish to fight since their brave Twenty-Seven would be quickly destroyed, and admits she does not know how to act. The Tiger suggests asking where the kitchen is, and the Cowardly Lion offers to pounce on the King and tear him to pieces. The King invites the Lion to try; the Lion crouches and springs but hops only a little into the air and lands in the same place, unable to approach the throne by an inch. The Scarecrow suggests their best plan is to wheedle the King into giving up his slaves, since he is too great a magician to oppose. The King declares this the most sensible suggestion, saying it is folly to threaten him but he cannot stand coaxing or wheedling, and tells Ozma she must coax him to accomplish anything. Ozma agrees to be friends and talk it over. She expresses her anxiety to liberate the Queen of Ev and her children and asks how it may be accomplished. The King asks whether she is willing to take chances and risks herself; when she eagerly agrees, he offers that she shall go alone into his palace, examine all the rooms, and touch eleven different objects while pronouncing the word "Ev"; any that prove to be transformations of the Queen or her ten children will instantly be restored and may leave freely, and she may free all eleven this way, but if some remain transformed, each of her friends and followers may in turn enter and have the same privilege. He then adds one condition, his eyes twinkling: if none of the eleven objects Ozma touches proves to be a member of the royal family, then instead of freeing them she herself will become enchanted and transformed into an ornament, which he calls fair and just and the risk she declared herself willing to take.

Who is in play

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